What is Wycliffe Avenue sitting on as it crosses Connor Lake between St. Johns Drive and Lakeside Drive? It's sitting on the dam. The roadway is part of the dam, and the Town of Highland Park plans to remove that stretch and rebuild it as a bridge.
That makes the barricades, detours and lane changes in this corner of town through mid-2028 the visible part of a dam replacement. The plan is built to keep Connor Lake at its current water level while the road across it is raised, narrowed and rebuilt.
The Road Across Connor Lake Is the Dam
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality classifies the existing dam and infrastructure at Wycliffe as "high hazard." The Town's project FAQ explains that this is the national dam-safety category for structures whose failure is expected to cause loss of life, and it calls the project "first and foremost, a public safety initiative." The goal is to get the dam reclassified as "low hazard."
The site has a history. At a December 2024 special council meeting, engineers described six overtopping events on Wycliffe since 2022 and 34 times the barricades had been triggered, People Newspapers reported. Anyone who has hit those barricades on a stormy afternoon has seen the problem the bridge is meant to fix.
The Town says the finished design is engineered to pass a 100-year storm without water going over Wycliffe Avenue.
What Rebcon Is Building Between St. Johns and Lakeside
On September 15, 2026, Town Council approved a $22,205,303 construction contract with Rebcon, the low bidder, according to People Newspapers. The contract set construction to begin in October 2026 and finish by June 2028, weather permitting.
The engineering plan presented in December 2024 breaks the work into a few physical changes:
- Raise the roadway about 2.5 feet across the crossing.
- Build a weir and a bridge where the dam roadway sits now.
- Remove the standpipe from the current structure.
- Widen and maintain the downstream channel flow lines below the lake.
The Town also lists improved drainage, smaller floodplain boundaries, upgraded utility infrastructure, upgraded pedestrian pathways, and new landscaping and aesthetic improvements as part of the finished project.
Connor Lake Stays Put. The Lanes Don't.
One commitment shapes the whole design: the plan keeps Connor Lake at its current water level. Even with the dam structure replaced, the Town describes the lake as staying in place for the sake of "the community's aesthetic and environmental character."
The road over it is what changes. Here's the crossing today compared with the finished design, based on the Town's FAQ and the 2024 engineering presentation.
| Wycliffe crossing today | After completion, targeted June 2028 | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | Roadway built on the dam | Bridge and weir |
| Road elevation | Current grade | Raised about 2.5 feet |
| Lanes | Three | Two, plus a dedicated left-turn lane across the bridge |
| Connor Lake | Current water level | Same water level |
| Dam classification | High hazard, per TCEQ | Designed to qualify as low hazard |
| Storm design | Six overtopping events since 2022 | Built to pass a 100-year storm without overtopping |
The lane reduction is the change most drivers will notice every day. The Town ran traffic modeling in response to community concerns and says the two-lane layout shows "no significant change in traffic flow." It posted both simulations so residents can compare them: the existing traffic conditions video and the proposed lane reduction video.
Two Closure Maps, Used at Different Times
Getting from today's crossing to the 2028 version means two kinds of disruption.
The first is the main closure. People Newspapers reported that Wycliffe Avenue between Abbott Avenue and Oak Lawn Avenue is to be closed while the project is underway.
The second is a rotating set of phased restrictions. The Town says portions of Wycliffe Avenue, Fitzhugh Avenue, St. Johns Drive, Lakeside Drive and Turtle Creek Boulevard will see closures or restricted access at different points, though not all at once. Detours, signage and traffic control will shift with each phase.
For the households closest to the work, the Town has made specific promises:
- Access to homes and businesses is maintained throughout the project.
- Mail and package deliveries, utility services and visitor arrivals keep being accommodated.
- Fire, police and EMS keep immediate, unimpeded access.
- Temporary route changes are announced in advance.
Utility work is the exception to an uninterrupted routine. Oncor, Atmos, AT&T and Spectrum will relocate their lines as part of the project, and the Town says some brief service interruptions may happen. It expects them to be minimal and says they will be announced well in advance.
Because the phases move, the Town's Wycliffe Avenue Reconstruction Project page is the place to check which streets are restricted in any given week. The Town has pointed residents there for updates.
Why Highland Park's Share Is About $6.2 Million
A project this size might be expected to land heavily on Town taxpayers. It doesn't, because the dam isn't only a Highland Park concern. According to the Town, about 72% of the roughly $22 million cost comes from outside sources:
- Texas Department of Transportation, through an 80/20 federal funding match
- Dallas County, through a 50/50 cost-sharing agreement
- TCEQ, through a grant supporting design costs
- The cities of Dallas and University Park, through financial participation
The Town says the remaining cost, about $6.2 million, is funded with local tax dollars. That share has barely moved since the plan went public. In December 2024, the presentation put the project at $21,830,000, with $6,132,000 falling to the Town. The September 2026 contract came in at $22,205,303, and People Newspapers again reported the Town's share at about $6.2 million.
How a Full Room in December 2024 Reshaped the Plan
The design under contract differs from the one first presented. At the December 17, 2024 special council meeting, all twelve rows were filled six seats deep and extra chairs still weren't enough, People Newspapers reported.
According to that coverage, attendees questioned the look of the proposed concrete and asked whether the start date could be pushed back. They also pressed for alternative renderings of the outdoor spaces and a stronger focus on preserving the area's natural landscape. Mayor Will C. Beecherl pointed to stipulations from an ongoing lawsuit that were tied to the project as part of a pending settlement.
Afterward, the Town formed a community working group of residents from both Highland Park and Dallas. The group spent six months with engineers and Town staff reviewing the original concept and looking for improvements. The Town says the final plan reflects technical best practices, community values, environmental resilience and aesthetics. It also says many design elements were influenced by residents, while others were set "by legal necessity."
That's why Dallas residents had seats in the working group and Dallas helps pay for the project. Connor Lake sits in Highland Park, but the crossing is shared infrastructure.
Wycliffe Is One of Four Contracts Moving at Once
The same September 15 meeting that approved the Wycliffe contract also authorized the Town Administrator to execute contracts for three more projects: the Eastern Avenue Reconstruction Project, the Douglas Avenue Reconstruction Project, and the 2026 Drainage Easement Improvements Project.
The Town's FY2025-26 budget describes those corridors as Eastern Avenue from Westside Drive to Mockingbird Lane and Douglas Avenue from the south Town limits to Arcady Avenue. With four construction contracts approved together, People Newspapers concluded that residents across several corridors should expect construction activity to continue well into the coming year.
Council is also starting to plan beyond streets. In a study session after the vote, staff previewed a proposed Park System Twenty-Year Strategy, a long-range plan covering procurement and funding for all 22 of the Town's parks.
For Wycliffe, the finish line is set. The contract targets June 2028 for a raised, two-lane bridge with a turn lane, new pedestrian paths and landscaping, and Connor Lake at the same level it holds today.
If you live near Connor Lake and want to know how two years of phased construction on Wycliffe, St. Johns or Lakeside could affect your plans to sell, buy or just stay put, Chris Holmes-Hill is happy to go through what's happening on your block. Let's Connect.
